HCL: Efforts to Repair the Broken Rung

Across India’s tech sector, many women enter the workforce but far fewer make the leap into leadership. At HCLTech, this “broken rung”, the early step from junior to managerial roles, has been a key focus of diversity efforts. Closing this gap means confronting a mix of entrenched biases, structural hurdles, and life-stage pressures that often push women out of the pipeline long before senior promotions are in sight.

HCLTech’s approach offers a multi-layered view of what it takes to retain and advance women across career stages. From targeted skill-building to culture change, and from maternity-friendly policies to data-driven bias detection, the company is testing a range of interventions. The result is a case study not just in program design, but in the ongoing challenge of making leadership pathways truly accessible and ensuring women aren’t just present in the workplace, but rising to its highest levels.